June 2015
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A Note
From The Editor Welcome to the June edition of Smart Business.
Circulation info:
Regular readers will notice that we like to celebrate entrepreneurs, and the spirit of getting out and making things happen - the biggest curse in any business I believe is lethargy; it’s not good for culture or the bottom line. In this issue we interview two Kiwi entrepreneurs, Sarah Perry of SnapComms and Tony Falkenstein of Just Water. I always like hearing other people’s business stories and the lessons they have learnt along the way, there’s always something to take away to make our own business journey that much easier! I have just come back from the Global Leadership Conference for the Entrepreneurs Organisation (a global group of 10,500 entrepreneurs), and the experience was both enlightening and exciting. There are some very smart and focused people out there meeting challenges each day to make our lives better.
Total Circulation – 130,000 90,000 copies delivered to every business PO Box in New Zealand 40,000 copies addressed and delivered via database mailout Produced & Published by Pumpt Advertising
On another note, it was interesting to observe the building boom that appears to happening in San Diego. While some States still appear to be suffering the effect of the GFC, there is some real activity going on in the Californian city, and I believe building is a good indicator of confidence in the economy. It seemed like the whole CBD was alive with cranes and trucks, some were new builds where others were being gutted and refitted.
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If you have any stories or learnings you would like to share in Smart Business, please get in touch - we’re always looking for news, views and events that relate to building smarter businesses!
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How your business can profit from content marketing Highlights from our May 2015 Content Marketing Survey Publish, do it on time and don’t stop
Remember why you’re doing it
Every day, I see our production teams here in Auckland creating blog content on all kinds of topics, from mainstream to super niche. So if you think there’s nothing your business can be blogging about, you’re wrong.
A common mistake with blogging strategies and content marketing in general is losing focus on what you’re trying to achieve. Your blog is a means to an end, not an end in itself.
Every business has great stories to share and your blog is the perfect place to do it, whether it’s showcasing the expertise of your key staff; highlighting your successes; or just creating content that your target audience will find useful, helpful and interesting. An active blogging strategy that’s properly aligned with what you do as a business will allow you to win more relevant traffic from search engines and help you nurture people through the sales process. But content marketing can be a slow burn. Improvements in organic search and building strong relationships with your target market both take time. So when you start content marketing you must be prepared to stick at it. The single biggest reason that content marketing fails is because it stops. Steve Jobs was an advocate of shipping on time. Part of the art of creating something brilliant is getting it out the door. And the same goes for your blog content. If it’s sitting on your desktop or floating around in your head, it’s not making you any money. Publish, publish on time and don’t stop.
That doesn’t mean that every visitor has to immediately make an enquiry or buy something for it to be a success. Successful blogs contain a broad mix of editorial, graphics and video content, with some posts aiming for a quick conversion, while others are seeking to build trust and familiarity for the future. “A common mistake with blogging strategies and content marketing in general is losing focus on what you’re trying to achieve.” With each update to your blog you should be ticking one or both of those boxes. That will ensure that your blog pays its way and isn’t just an amusing distraction from the day-to-day work of running your business.
Adam Barber is a founding director of Castleford, a content marketing business with offices in Sydney and Auckland. Castleford produces editorial, graphics and video for websites, supported by in-house strategists and custom built technology.
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61% of respondents said they had an active company blog, up from 48% last year
76% of c-level execs are either “quite positive” or “very positive” about content marketing
Time (45%) and budget (28%) are the biggest barriers to content marketing Our May 2015 Content Marketing Survey canvassed the experiences and opinions of marketing decision makers in Australia and New Zealand during March and April 2015.
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10 Minutes with
have two children and love to travel with them and get active though things like mountain biking. I also love listening to audio books while exercising or doing mundane tasks around the house.
Sarah Perry
What has been the most useful piece of advice you have received? How has it made a difference? SnapComms is a technology company that helps organisations communicate more effectively with their employees. To cut-through information overload, grab attention and convey messages quickly.
What was the main catalyst for the creation of your business?
What sticks out as one of the toughest things you encountered?
Information overload is a huge and growing problem. It’s a challenge for businesses to get their employees to notice important information (health and safety updates, product announcements etc). SnapComms employee messaging software helps put visual messages in front of employees, wherever they are, in a way that is measurable.
Shareholder conflict. We went through a stage in our journey when the shareholders were not aligned in terms of growth strategy and risk management and it created conflict which resounded throughout the business and affected our staff. Working though that was one of the hardest things I have ever dealt with.
What have been some milestones? Getting from 1 customer to more – we started as a development company and had stagnated with 1 customer on a prototype for a while. When I got involved in the business we decided to bundle and market a standard product offering. This changed the game for us; it created a scalable and repeatable business model. That was when we renamed and launched SnapComms worldwide. Winning our first offshore customer – the number of large companies who can benefit from the SnapComms messaging channels is limited in New Zealand; we had to move offshore fast in order to scale the business. I jumped on a plane with an 18 month old and 3 year old in tow and got in front of prospects in the UK. We quickly picked up Vodafone Group and Virgin Mobile as well as a reseller there (thankfully the children stayed with mum!) Moving out of our home office into premises – we stayed in a home office as long as we could (probably too long because juggling toddlers and employees from the one location was a challenge). As soon as we moved into business premises our attitude shifted too.
If there was one thing the government could do to help New Zealand businesses that operate globally what could it be? I am really happy with the support we have received. NZTE have been amazing. We have grown solely from customer revenues (no investment funding). Due to the support of NZTE we have been able to scale in the US market faster than we would have done. Callaghan has also been very supportive of our R&D, particularly in the mobile messaging space.
Whats excites you about the year ahead? World domination! Seriously though, we have some exciting things happening in the business and I wake up excited most days. We are growing fast online and through our channel initiatives and the product development side is humming along nicely.
Do you feel you get enough down time to relax and or work on the business rather than in it? Tell us about what you do. This is a big challenge for me especially as I work with my husband. We take time out for planning days and also make sure we spend time in ‘active relaxation’. We 7
I’ve been lucky that I’ve had great people advise me along the way; it’s hard to pick one. Perhaps “Just do it” but “Protect the Downside”. I think this is a combination of advice from an early boss plus Richard Branson (his book, not in person – I wish...). I take it to mean that you should give things a go and not worry too much about what could go wrong but be sure to have a plan (or be willing to live with) for the worst possible outcome if it does.
Are you using outsourcing? If so what are the positives and negatives? We are outsourcing in some areas but the communication overheads and project management issues can be a challenge. We are growing fast so often things change before we have time to communicate with outsourcing partners. I see this as a natural stage of growth where we are moving from more informal management systems, communication and processes to more formal ones to help us to scale.
Have you employed family members? Has it been a positive experience? In a big way – I work with my husband. The experience is positive as we have a very close working relationship and communicate and problem solve well. I would not work with other family members though.
What advice would you give to someone starting out with their own business? It’s a bit like having a baby - it takes over your life and it’s a ton of work but the rewards are incredible. Don’t over- think it because there is never a good time, and opportunities don’t come gift wrapped or exactly when you want them. When you get that tingle of inspiration and passion, jump in boots and all but protect the downside (see above).
Social Media for Your Business:
5 Keys to Success In our increasingly mobile world, consumers now expect to be able to find information about products and services from their iPad or smartphone wherever they might be. The new Millenial generation, who grew up with the internet, rely on being able to get information from multiple devices and sources any time, any where, and this can prove a challenge for small to medium businesses who have previously relied on a traditional website to communicate information. However, this group are also dedicated users of social media, and within the realms of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, there is a real opportunity for New Zealand businesses of any size to connect with customers and showcase their brands to the right people at the right time. Here, Impact PR director and social media specialist Fleur Revell looks at five keys to a successful social media strategy for small business:
1 2
Get the basics right
How your small business can use social media to better connect with customers and showcase your brand to potential customers
Images are essential
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Social media has become an increasingly visual medium, and with the rise in popularity of Instagram - an image and video-focused site - it’s become a number one rule to include an image with most posts on Facebook, and to a lesser degree, Twitter.
“If you have a lot of beautiful imagery, it’s definitely worth considering adding an Instagram page to your company’s social media toolkit,” Revell says. “Images are easy to digest, easy to share, and they reflect a lot on your business’s ethos and personality, so they are a great way to engage with potential customers.” Similarly, it’s essential to include good quality images with Facebook posts to illustrate your words - which should be kept to a minimum. “Most people will scroll right past a lengthy post as they don’t have time to read it, so stick with short and sweet words and a great image.”
Update as often as you can
Social media can feel like a big time commitment, but Revell says the first step is to ensure your business has a Facebook page set up at the very least, and that it includes everything you need customers to know.
The key to social media is keeping content fresh and interesting for your customers as this will lead to more ‘likes’ and followers who want to see what’s new or find out more about your company.
“Many people now search a company on Facebook if they want to know anything about them, including location, hours and new product offerings,” explains Revell. “That means it’s important for your business to have a page established, and keep it up to date with your current hours, a street address, phone number, and any closures or special sales you have on. Even if you don’t have a huge amount of content being uploaded, at least this means customers won’t move on to a competitor after searching and not finding you on this popular site.”
“Some of the best social media feeds from small businesses in New Zealand post every day or two days, but it can be something as simple as an image of a new ‘cocktail of the week’, or an update on one of their staff running a local half-marathon,” says Revell. “Providing new content not only ensures your company looks engaged and is available for customers to connect with, but it is also a great opportunity for your business to build a personality and show who you are, as well as promoting your business.”
Don’t over-advertise
Both the major social media sites Facebook and Twitter have seen a decline in recent months, and many commentators put that down to an increase in the amount of advertising content filling up people’s feeds. Revell says it’s important to ensure your business doesn’t try to use these sites as a place to advertise products constantly, as people will switch off. “Those people browsing social media want to be entertained and informed, and while the occasional post or tweet about a big sale, or exciting new product may be useful to them, it’s not what they want to see on a daily basis.” Posts or tweets that engage your customers in conversation about the things they care about, or that are ‘share-worthy’ should be the aim for 80% of your social media communication, she says. “Funny images, talkable discussion points and questions for your customers about important things in their lives will always get more response than a post about a new product or a push for people to purchase a new service.”
Use a social media management platform
Most small businesses don’t have the resources to have someone looking after social media full-time, so it can be extremely helpful to set up a social media management platform that multiple team members can access and use to look after the sites you have decided to focus on.
“Social media management platforms such as Hootsuite enable you to look at your company’s social media presence all in one go, so they are particularly useful if you are on more than one site,” Revell explains. “They can be used to reply to comments, find where your company is being tagged or where hashtags are being used, and you can also schedule content via them so that you can plan a calendar of posts and tweets ahead of time.” They also enable staff to all help with managing these sites, although Revell cautions only responsible staff who have been briefed on how to speak to customers and processes in the case of a complaint should be given access, so there is a consistent approach to all communication.
Fleur Revell is an ex-journalist and broadcaster who has more than 20 years experience in the media and public relations industry. She is the director of boutique Auckland agency Impact PR where she specialises in PR, social media, and crisis communications. 8
Tips for investing
In a Business Investing in a business is often an expensive exercise and can be motivated by a variety of needs including the expansion of an existing business, personal independence, return on investment or security of income.
Investigating the business or opportunity through a detailed due diligence process, often with the help of advisors in the legal, accounting and other sectors, will help you make a fully informed decision. There are no secrets in the due diligence process, and most of it is common sense based on the idea that before you invest in a business, you need to know what you’re getting into. Besides asking common questions like why is the business for sale, how long has it been on the market for, what are the lease details, how was the asking price reached, and are the assets in good working order, here are some other things to consider… • Look for a 3 to 5 year + history of strong profitability & consistent revenues, as a track-record speaks loudest. Unless it’s a strategic add on to an existing business, 1 or 2 years of fleeting experience, complimented by an over-enthusiastic forecast won’t cut the mustard. • Gross profit margin ratio is one indicator of a business’s financial health. The higher the gross profit margin ratio the better, as a low gross profit margin ratio means the business will be starved of capital. It gives an indication of the pricing, cost structure, and production efficiency of the business.
• Businesses with high levels of stock on the shelves and high levels of capital tied up in equipment and machinery can be tricky to scale. As an investor, you are generally going to have to allocate a whole lot of the funds that you bring to the transaction, to stock and gear instead of marketing and growth. As an investor, you will prefer to see your contributed capital allocated to priorities that will see the business grow. • A good business should have a strong focus around a core direction with a high degree of exclusivity. These businesses generally tend to be more appealing than a business going in many different directions and competing on price. • A lack of available cash flow can impede growth, so look for a fast cash cycle and a low level of debtors. Having clients pay on time is crucial for good cash flow and the ability to grow the business positively. • Good systems and disciplines generally means there is a good culture within a business, and that in turn leads to good productivity and the overall success for the business.
• Is there scope to expand, diversify, duplicate and perhaps even franchise the business? As an investor, you would not pay more if it could, it will just mean you pull out your wallet quicker and make an offer. Investors do not pay for potential, but potential is important in getting a business sold. • Ask yourself which of the 3 P’s (People, Process, Product) needs the most improvement in the business right now, and are you able to make those improvements in a short space of time. • The business should be located near to where you live. Having to travel means that you won’t go to the office every day, and in turn it means staff and customers alike will not see you on a regular basis. As the owner or part owner, you need to be there to drive the business forward. Lastly, as Warren Buffet says ‘Never invest in a business you can’t understand’. Do your research, you owe it to yourself and your future. Kevin Atkinson, Business Advisor
How do you
Future-Proof Your Business? The evolution of digital technologies has changed the way we do business. Many companies are asking: “What will our business look like in the next 10 years?” We live in a state of permanent disruption. New business ideas seem to come out of nowhere to destroy existing markets with better, cheaper, and faster products and services. New players in the New Zealand market such as taxi service Uber have completely disrupted the market and are rapidly taking market share. Is your industry next?
Kiwi business entrepreneurs disrupting the big systems Many opportunities for innovation are not clear early on. You have to think outside the square to develop a technology or new service, and experiment with business models until you come up with a unique offering that makes you successful. Most companies think their direct competitors are the ones who will disrupt things. In fact, it is often an outsider looking at the incumbents who can see a new solution not thought of before. The major disruptor at play is from new technologies. These enable capabilities that not only substitute for products and services but also totally rethink the usage or delivery of the service. NZ point-of-sale company Vend launched in 2010 and went straight to operating purely in the cloud. While the competition would send out a CD or even a technician to set up software, Vend offered users the ability to log in and set up online. This gave them a competitive advantage with all new business right from the start. Vend now has more than 15,000 active users in over 100 countries, and is seeing continued rapid global growth as a market leader in its space. The rapid rise of Xero is another example of innovative use of new technologies. Founder Rod Drury
believed accounting software would be a killer app because accounting is such an essential, if utterly unsexy, part of any business. In an attempt to take the dreary out of accounting, Xero took a design-driven approach to make the process of invoicing and bill payments user-friendly. It also opened up its platform to thirdparty developers and now hosts hundreds of add-ons through such providers. Xero makes cloud services integrations easy and commonsense. An example of innovation unrelated to new technology is the wild success of Lewis Road chocolate milk. Lewis Road launched its chocolate milk in October 2014, and at $6.49 it was twice the price of Fonterra’s Primo. But its incredible success was related not to its price but to its taste: in double-blind taste tests it was clearly superior. Lewis Road chocolate milk was not produced in a large quantity, so unavailability also drove up demand. This was coupled with a clever social media campaign from founder Peter Cullinane, former ad man with Saatchi and Saatchi. The success of the milk proved that sometimes a great idea can be found by simply improving an existing product.
Trial new offers and don’t be afraid of making mistakes If you look at your customers and current offer, what new offer can you supply that will make your business stand out from the rest? 10
Can you improve the ease of access your customers have to your service by moving into new technology? Or can you innovate like Lewis Road by making something simple taste or perform better with a bit of ingenuity and creative thinking? This is probably the best time in history to be an entrepreneur. Opportunities are boundless. The key to winning will be to focus on a pain or a need in the marketplace, and develop a product or service by combining technologies and business models in unique and compelling ways. Will it be you, or will it be someone else? Choosing to wait is choosing to be disrupted.
How to evolve your business •It is most important to have a deep understanding of the core purpose of your business. Then look into what parts of that business could be improved or transformed by a better delivery of its service. •If you haven’t got a modern and mobile responsive website no matter what your product or service is – it’s time to upgrade. Your online profile is crucial to attracting new customers and 52% of them will be finding out about you from their mobile phones.
The Accountability Crisis Pause for a minute before reading this and think about all of the people who make commitments to you in the workplace on a weekly basis. Now think about how many of those people follow through on those commitments 100% of the time with very little follow up, if any. These are the people who commit to something and you’re 100% confident it will get done right AND on time. If you’re like many organizations, that number is likely pretty small. Now think about the remainder of your workplace relationships where you aren’t confident people will follow through on time every time. How much time do you spend following up, checking in, and losing sleep over whether or not things will get done and, even worse, what are all of the things that might be falling through the cracks because you’ve forgotten what you delegated in the first place? Lack of accountability is an epidemic in many organizations. A 2006 study conducted with nearly 15,000 participants by thought leader Patrick Lencioni found that 68% of teams scored dangerously low on accountability. Even worse, the higher up the organization you go the worse it gets. 80% of senior executive teams scored in the “red” on accountability. Senior level executives typically enjoy similar socioeconomic status and, thus, don’t feel justified commenting on a peer’s performance. If this sounds like the organization you’re part of, what can you do to begin righting the ship?
Call an accountability meeting with your team Openly discuss how everyone else is feeling about the level of accountability in the organization. A safe environment where people objectively assess their own level of follow through will create an open discussion without finger pointing and defensiveness. Ask the question of each other as to whether or not more peer to peer accountability is desired. Often times we want to be held accountable and will respond favourably to it. Look for a way to objectively rank yourself and each other. A simple A, B or C grade can accomplish this. Rank yourself and your peers and share the results. An “A” is highly accountable, a “B” is inconsistent, while a “C” is very poor at following through. Look for ways to help each other improve.
Align people with a clear vision
Right people, right roles
Accountability will always be a significant challenge if your people aren’t enthusiastically engaged with a clear vision. Ensuring a values fit, a shared purpose, and an excited pursuit of a long term goal will provide people with the passion that is needed to benefit from a commitment to accountability. Without this, there is a strong chance that accountability will be perceived negatively and cause further disengagement.
If people enjoy something it feels less like work and they’ll go the extra mile. Ensure people are in roles they enjoy and have skillsets to be successful. When people are in roles they do not enjoy or are ill-equipped to fulfil they are far less likely to consistently follow through on their expectations. Utilizing behavioural profiling tools can help assess strength of fit.
Set clear expectations
If you’re not modelling the behaviours you expect of others then your people are unlikely to be receptive of higher levels of accountability. You must follow through 100% of the time, expect others to hold you accountable, and take the uncomfortable step of rigorously holding others to their commitments. Start by addressing your own shortcomings to accountable behaviour and watch how favourably those around you respond.
John Spence eloquently states that “ambiguity breeds mediocrity.” Establish clear, measurable expectations for everyone so there is no debate whether or not something has been completed. Top employees expect this and will lose respect for leaders who don’t provide it.
Link performance to the big picture Once you’ve set clear expectations for your people make sure you take the next step of making it clear how those performance metrics are helping company objectives succeed. Having a clear strategic plan that you can fit onto a couple of pages will simplify this process. Good employees want to see how their individual success helps the company win.
Make performance visible and review weekly If progress is visible and discussed weekly there is higher likelihood deadlines won’t be missed. Research conducted by the American Society of Training and Development suggests that you are 65% more likely to complete a task if you openly commit to someone that you will do something. Leaders get what they tolerate so make it a habit to confront those who don’t follow through. 11
Leaders must lead
Stop doing If you’re doing everything listed above there is a strong likelihood you’re simply taking on too much. What are the top three things you could say no to right now? Alternatively, what are your top two most important priorities that add high value to the organization? Spending more time on the latter and less on the former will begin to improve your capacity to be accountable. Becoming a highly accountable organization is a transformative exercise so it takes time. Like all transformative endeavours; start small, assess gaps, and take action. Begin to imagine how much smoother things would run if significant improvements were realized year over year. It starts at the top, so get going! Article by Jeff Tetz, Director of Results Canada Inc.
Probably the biggest overall success for me, is to see people who have worked for Just Water go on to make their own success stories. I feel good that we have been part of their journey.
10 Minutes with Tony Falkenstein
CEO of Just Water Just Water has been around some time now, what drove you to start this business? I had started a business in 1987 renting out fax machines, Red Eagle Rent-a-Fax, 2 years earlier, and I wanted something else I could rent to offices. I had seen water coolers on American Sitcoms, and with the move towards healthy living, I bought 6 of them, and when they moved the first day, I knew I had a business.
Along the way, I am sure there have been some ups and downs - what sticks out as the toughest times?
What successes have you had outside the business?
We found that corporate kitchens tended to be untidy, with dirty cups being left around on the benches, and signs like “Mother doesn’t work here, do your own dishes”, so we launched an instant ‘cup washer’ named FreshCup. Everybody who purchased one, loved it, but we couldn’t move enough to finance the infrastructure, so $800,000 later we got out of the business.
What have been some successes for you personally along the way? Being acknowledged by one’s peers always makes you feel good – we won a NZ Marketing Award, was a finalist in the Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, inducted into the NZ Business Hall of Fame, being appointed as an Officer of the Order of Merit (ONZM), being selected as a Distinguished Alumnus of the University of Auckland have all been acknowledgements of success.
In growth businesses, running out of cash is always a challenge, and so for the first 6 years, we were constantly on the edge of failure. In 1992, the bank called up their loan, but fortunately the BNZ took it over, and they have been our bankers ever since.
I established New Zealand’s first Business High School at Onehunga High, with a view to including ‘Business and Entrepreneurship’ in the National Curriculum. This became reality in 2010.
Do you have any outside projects on the go currently? I am very vocal on the growing obesity epidemic, which is costing the country dearly, and looking at ways to reduce the intake of sugar through tariffs on the import of sugar, taxes on softdrinks or ‘sugar reduction incentives’ for the Food Industry.
What values do you hold in your business? “Respect” is the value I mention most – I respect everybody who works for me, my suppliers and my customers, and I expect the same back.
Can print or or advertising advertisingsupplier? supplier? Canyou yousay saythis this about about your your print “More often than not this work has come “More often than not this work has come to you with less than optimistic deadlines to you with less than optimistic deadlines and your team has always been ahead of and your team has always been ahead of the game and managed to complete the the game and managed to complete the projects onon time projects timewith withnothing nothingless lessthan than perfection in each job” perfection in each job” “Even with some “Even with somevery verytight tightdeadlines deadlines they have consistently they have consistentlydelivered delivered while keeping while keepingwithin withinbudget budgetand and without compromising without compromisingquality” quality” “This has been “This has beenseamless, seamless,painless painless and simple.I am I amstoked stokedwith withyour your and simple. performance,and andhave havepassed passedthis this performance, otherfranchisees” franchisees” onon totoother
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You have also invested in or built a number of other businesses over the years, how do you decide who and what to invest in?
for fact”. Cash flow is the heart of any successful business.
There is obviously risk, and I have made a few mistakes along the way, but basically cash flow and people are the 2 ingredients I look for in investments. Also, I am not that smart, so I have to understand the business – I tend to avoid specialist businesses.
I know a lot of people believe we don’t, but I have always found the media like to hear about success stories.
If you were giving advice to a person thinking about starting their own business right now, what would you tell them? There has never been a better time to start a business as now – it needs to offer the customer something new and appealing. You can start a business on very little cash, but you need a risk appetite, and you need to be able to commit to the business.
As Kiwis, do you think we celebrate our good businesses enough?
What’s on the horizon for you this year or beyond, do you have any aspirations you are able to share with our readers? At Just Water, we have finally eliminated debt. After a big mistake in Australia and a poor instillation of an ERP system in New Zealand, our debt blew out to $27 million 5 years ago. There is some satisfaction in seeing this eliminated totally, and this now gives us the opportunity to grow in the ‘healthy living’ space, probably through acquisitions.
What, in your opinion, is the definition of a good business?
What’s your opinion about the state of the New Zealand Business environment at the moment, and weber do you see it heading?
A good business is one that generates cash – I like the expression “profit is a matter of opinion, cash is a matter
The business environment is currently very buoyant, but I feel we are skating on thin ice, and will be affected domestically
by falling dairy prices and internationally by the weak global economy. I think we are headed for another GFC, so we need to make money now, with a view to what might happen if demand falls by (say) 20%.
Finally, if you could do it all again would you do it all the same way again? No, firstly I wouldn’t make the same mistakes, but surprisingly, I probably would have stayed in the corporate environment. I would have liked to play with bigger numbers than currently, so the corporate environment would have offered me that opportunity. On the other hand, I am very happy where I am at the moment, and I do love going to work every day, so basically I have no regrets.
IN BUSINESS?
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Business Ownership
How To Recruit The Right People
By Sandy Geyer
“My business is just me but I’ve grown to the point where I need to hire some help. I have no recruitment experience. What are the key attributes I should look for when hiring someone for my small business, and is there any way of quantifying these attributes?”
You look for three things when you hire someone:
1) Expertise: Qualification certificates, work history and assessments you can source or compile yourself can quantify expertise. Depending upon what type of expertise you need - in some cases these can be trained.
2) Traits: Traits include personal strengths, interaction/ communication styles and values. Traits can’t be trained, they need to be actively selected and they will relate closely to the culture of your business. There are many training organisations and on-line resources that offer ways to measure the “surface” and “source” traits of your candidates.
3) Experience: Relevant experience can be quantified from work history and references. If a candidate has gaps in their work history be sure to find out why.
Then, consider the reason behind why you want to take someone else on. There are two possibilities; (a) either you want to leverage your own abilities and knowledge through someone else; or (b) you want to expand upon your knowledge and abilities with those of someone else. It’s a good idea to be clear on this before you compile your role description and start your selection process.
Whilst you plan your hiring strategy bearing the previous in mind; consider these two thoughts:
1)
If you just want to leverage your own abilities you can select a “blank canvas” in terms of experience and skills and take time to train them to merely achieve more of what you can do by yourself, in the same manner that you do things. If you want to expand upon your own abilities then their expertise and experience is a very important consideration upon hiring them; and you will need to allow them to expand upon your way of doing things. Don’t be afraid of hiring someone who seems “overqualified” for the position. This is a mistake many business owners make to the detriment of how much their business could benefit from the experience and expertise of someone available from an economic downturn retrenchment, early retirement or they might be returning to the workforce after maternity or paternity leave. Even if these types of candidates were to move on quickly, which is often the main concern, the value of what you can learn from them will stay with you forever.
2)
Jim Collins, in his book “Good to Great” talks a lot about placing the right people “on the bus”. If you have to choose between someone who will fit into your business culture well but is light on expertise or experience, and someone who has all the right experience and expertise but you don’t think they will fit into your business culture, choose the former. My longest standing and most valued employees in my 20 years as a business leader are from this category. As your business expands you can either function as a conduit to the expansion process or as a barricade. Many business owners unwittingly function as a barricade due to their control issues and insecurities about what they don’t know.
Sandy Geyer is an entrepreneur and mentor and teaches entrepreneurial intelligence (EnQ), to entrepreneurs in New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. Article supplied by NZ Entrepreneur magazine. www.nzentrepreneur.co.nz
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The 5 Pitfalls To Avoid When
Building a New Website Most websites taking the stage on the web for the first time fall into three general categories, the stylishly presented, well thought out showpieces, those with a message focused on making money, and those websites that have been nailed together in the proverbial back yard with as little money as possible. So what are the more common pitfalls you should avoid to make sure that when the spotlight lands on your website that it dazzles?
Pitfall #1: Lack of clear goals You need to first define the primary goals of your new website, or your website will lack purpose and direction. A new website without a clear set of goals is like a boat without a rudder; it will drift aimlessly through the web and eventually be lost in the data stream. The goals of a website usually fall into one of two categories, business and visitor. The business goals normally focus on: •
helping generate more money e.g. generate more sales lead enquiries or get people to buy more
•
helping save you time and money e.g. getting visitors to self-serve on your website rather than contact a staff member
Once the business goals are set, you can then define the visitor goals. The visitor goals focus on the most important part of the website design process – the visitor. Your new website must be intuitively designed to help people find what they are looking for without expecting them to have to think too hard!
Pitfall #2: Non-existent requirements planning Too often we get asked by clients for a website that ‘looks great’ or that ‘works well’. “Great” and “works well” can mean anything to anybody. Once you’ve set your website goals, you need to define the website’s requirements. Requirements reflect the needs of your target audience. They describe the features, functions and content your website needs to enable your business and visitor goals. Requirements describe what the site
must have or allow visitors to do to complete an action towards helping your website achieve a business goal. Requirements gathering can be complex but is crucial to ensuring the web design project remains aligned towards delivering achievable goals. Requirements1 should be: • specific, rather than ambiguous • complete and well thought out • aligned to the website business and visitor goals • prioritized based on the website goals • verified during testing
Pitfall #3: Not understanding that design turns heads, copy closes the sale The design of your website is critical to its success. A well designed website will make your organisation look more professional and give you that competitive edge. Your website must take the stage dressed to perfection or it is going to do you more harm than good. These days internet visitors are more selective and have higher expectations. First impressions count - nobody is going to buy your product or services if your website is not professional, well designed, and easy to navigate. There is no point building a good looking website that is difficult for visitors to find what they are looking for or need to do. Now let’s talk about copy. Your website has made an excellent first impression; it is the copy that is going to close the sale. Good web copy needs to both engage your visitors and boost search engine rankings, or you will lose leads to your competitors and your marketing costs will rocket. Having good quality, compelling, unique copy that appeals to customers and Google is key to your online success.
visitors are most likely to visit a retail outlet after conducting a local search online, while 34% of consumers using tablets or computers to search will go to a shop. And Google has shown that these people are ready to buy once they are in the shop, as 18% of local searches lead to sales, compared to 7% for non-local searches. Google announced that from the 21st of April 2015, websites that are not optimised for mobile will be de-ranked in the mobile search results. Simply put, your website must be designed for mobile devices as well as computer and tablet screens of all sizes, or it will fail.
Pitfall #5: Thinking Search Engine Optimisation is too complex and not needed Over 80% of Kiwis search online before they buy a product or service. Being found on the first page of the search results is no longer an option, it is a necessity. Your website must rank in the top 3 search engine ranking positions or you will lose a fair amount of business to your higher ranking competitors. The principles of ranking well in the search engines are actually fairly simple and are focused on ranking websites that are well designed and have topical and unique content. Contact Glen@Clickthrough.co.nz if you want your new website to get a standing ovation, are thinking about re-designing your website, or just want to grab a coffee and chat about saving the world one website at a time!
Pitfall #4: Not friendly for mobile devices, laptops and computers Recent Google research2 highlights that, within the USA, 50 percent of mobile 15
www.usability.gov/how-to-and-tools/methods/requirements 2. think.storage.googleapis.com/docs/how-advertisers-canextend-their-relevance-with-search_research-studies.pdf 1.
Looking After Your Greatest Assets Today, in New Zealand’s competitive workplace, employers are constantly looking for cost effective ways to reward their employees. The better their workplace experience, the better their performance and the less likely they will be to move on to greener pastures. Providing your staff with fruit to eat while they work is a relatively new phenomenon here in New Zealand, but one that is catching on. Chances are, if you work for one of New Zealand’s larger corporations you will already know the benefits of getting fruit supplied at work. Alan McMeiken, founder of Fruit Guys, says “when we first set up the business in 2008, we approached dozens of potential customers, offering our services. Some loved the concept, others looked at us like we were crazy.” For many employers the idea of feeding their staff was too much of a stretch for both the imagination and the budget. However those who have taken the leap, have not looked back! Fruit Guys, New Zealand’s largest work place fruit supplier, started from very small beginnings, borrowing warehouse space from a friend and doing deliveries from the back of a car. Today they provide regular fruit deliveries to more than 700 business clients throughout New Zealand, including many of New Zealand’s largest companies. Growth has been rapid and the learning curve has been steep, reports Alan. “We realised early on, that this was a win-win situation for employers and staff. Staff were healthier and felt valued, healthy staff were more focussed and took less sick days, everybody wins. With that knowledge we approached business’s large and small and pushed the concept with increasingly favourable responses”.
“It’s all about the quality, we work with New Zealand’s best fruit growers and packers to bring perfect, fresh, tasty, fruit directly to your office”. Everyone knows the obvious health benefits of fruit. Eating fruit is good for you. A diet high in fruit improves your health. Healthy people have better concentration and are more focussed. Healthy people are also less likely to be absent from work due to illness. Providing snacks in the workplace also improves productivity, as staff are less likely to leave the office in search of morning or afternoon snacks. Many employers also report improved morale in the office as a result of the fruit deliveries. Employees felt more valued and saved their cash, no longer having to bring fruit from home or leave the office to buy it. “If you haven’t supplied fruit to your staff yet, you should give it a go and experience the positive results.
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Not only will you be the office hero, your happy, healthy staff will improve the health of your balance sheet”. Healthy staff = Healthy business
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